LIHEAP Performance Data Form for Federal Fiscal Year 2015

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LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY

ASSISTANCE

Action Transmittal

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Community Services Division of Energy Assistance 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20447https://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/liheap

Transmittal No. LIHEAP-AT-2016-4 Date: April 5, 2016

TO: LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP) STATE GRANTEES AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES

RELATEDREFERENCES: Section 2610(b) of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, Title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law 97-35, as amended; ACF’s annual LIHEAP Performance Data Form, as approved by OMB (Control No. 0970-0449; Expiration Date – October 31, 2017)

PURPOSE: To advise State LIHEAP Grantees that the deadline for submitting the LIHEAP Performance Data Form for FY 2015 (for the period of October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015) has been extended until April 20, 2016for required data.

To advise State LIHEAP Grantees that the Office of Community Services (OCS) has revised the instructions for completing this form with regard to how to report nominal payments.

BACKGROUND: In January 2016, OCS issued LIHEAP-AT-2016-3 which included instructions to treat any LIHEAP benefit payment of less than $50 as a nominal payment. The reason behind that instruction related to obtaining data related to households that receive an ancillary LIHEAP benefit that some states target to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient households. The instructions also tried to provide some consistency in how states reported such payments.

CONTENT: After issuing that guidance, some state grantees, including the Performance Measures Implementation Work Group (PMIWG), alerted OCS to some unintended challenges in providing such data. As a result,

OCS is now revising the guidance on how to report nominal benefit payments to include only those obligated funds for households that receive a LIHEAP benefit payment that deviates from the state’s regular LIHEAP payment matrix because the household is a SNAP recipient and has a minimal energy burden. Other types of small benefit amounts that are part of the state’s payment matrix or targeting other populations should not be included in the nominal payment amount.

Next Steps: For states that never submitted their form, please move forward with submitting the state’s form in the Online Data Collection system (OLDC) based on this revised guidance.

For states that already submitted their form and Federal staff will review and work with the state staff to make adjustments and resubmit the form, as needed. If state or territorial staff believe based on revised guidance, they should consult with their DEA liaison. If appropriate, state or territorial staff can then submit a “Revised” form in OLDC.